F
Festival and event, tourism
Don Getz
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Event tourism is both a field of study and a glob-
ally significant sector of the economy. It can be
defined and studied by reference to its supply side
(Getz 2012, 2013). Event tourism at a destina-
tion level is the development and marketing of
planned events as tourist attractions, catalysts,
animators, image makers, and place marketers.
This process includes bidding on, facilitating and
creating events, and the management of portfo-
lios of events as destination assets. For individual
events, event tourism means taking a marketing
orientation to attract tourists, sometimes as an
additional segment and sometimes as the core
business. When tourists are the core business,
destination events are created. From the
demand side, event tourism refers to the propen-
sity of travel to attend events, both on the part
of dedicated event tourists who are motivated to
travel for specific events and other tourists who
attend events while away from home (Getz 2012,
2013).
There are four main sectors of event tourism,
with each linked and often completely dependent
upon a range of venues. First, the business event
sector requires convention and exhibition cen-
ters, plus the myriad meeting and banqueting
facilities within hotels, resorts, and other private
# Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
J. Jafari, H. Xiao (eds.), Encyclopedia of Tourism,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_84-1
and public facilities to work together. Types of
events in this category are meetings, incentives,
conventions (or conferences or congresses), and
exhibitions, known as MICE. It is usual for
destination marketing organizations to engage in
event-tourism promotions and sales, often in con-
junction with a special purpose convention
bureau. Most of these business event activities
occur at the city level. A more recent trend has
been the establishment of event development
agencies with mandates specific to developing
event tourism, bidding, and sometimes creating
their own events. Convention tourism has been
explored and featured in various textbooks
(Weber and Chon 2002). A number of interna-
tional professional associations are connected to
this sector, notably Meeting Professionals Inter-
national, while the Convention Industry Council
acts as an umbrella organization.
The second sector of event tourism is sport
events. They are similarly dependent on
purpose-built facilities, with every city desiring
arenas and stadia capable of attracting events and
tourists. Although there are numerous forms of
sports and competitions, there are important dif-
ferences between periodic events that can be per-
manent fixtures in one place and one-time events
that are usually won through bidding. Equally
important are differences between spectator
events, often linked to professional sports, and
participation events that attract participants and
tourists with special interests, such as marathon
runners or mountain bikers. Theoretical and
2 Festival and event, tourism
applied aspects of sport-event tourism are cov-
ered in many books, including Olympic Tourism
by Weed (2008) and Sport Tourism Development
by Hinch and Higham (2011).
The third sector consists of entertainment. It is
mostly supplied by the private entities in the form
of concerts, shows, and other spectacles, but there
is also a range of public and private facilities
being utilized, such as theaters, arenas, and
parks. Many entertainment events are arranged
by venue managers and private impresarios,
although a growing number, such as artistic com-
petitions and award shows, can be won through
bidding.
Festivals and other cultural celebrations con-
stitute the fourth sector. Owing to the potential
for threats to cultural authenticity, their exploita-
tion for tourism purposes is often controversial.
They are typically produced by not-for-profit
organizations or government agencies, frequently
held in parks and on streets, with theaters, arts,
and cultural facilities as the built venues of
choice. Picard and Robinson (2006) and others
explore relationships and issues involving festi-
vals and tourism, while Richards and Palmers
(2012) Eventful Cities examines the diverse roles
and impacts of cultural events in cities.
Numerous private functions, ranging from
parties and weddings to reunions and corporate
retreats, can make use of any of the
abovementioned infrastructure. Those in facility
management are almost automatically in the
event business, although not necessarily geared
toward tourists. The dependence on venues of all
types is clear, but a major issue is the justification
for public expenditure on facilities that exceed
residents needs or are specifically tailored for
tourists.
Event functions
Many of the terms used in conjunction with
events pertain to their real or implicit roles and
functions. Mega event could refer to size alone,
as explained by Vanhove and Witt (1987), but in
common parlance, it usually means the biggest of
planned events. It conveys meanings related to
international scope, huge new infrastructure
costs, global media coverage, and numerous tour-
ists. Indeed, gigantism is associated with mega
events, and there are numerous critics of this
trend. Mega events can also be defined in a rela-
tive sense, referring to the biggest ones that a
place or venue can accommodate, have the larg-
est impacts, and attract the most attention.
Hallmark event, a term originally used by
Ritchie and Beliveau (1974) in their seminal arti-
cle within the context of combating seasonality,
has multiple meanings. Getz (2012) argued that
the term should be reserved for permanent events
that are co-branded with their destination; they
should embody valued traditions and become
permanent institutions because they meet so
many community and tourism goals. Hallmark
events are iconic in that they hold symbolic
value, but many smaller and one-time events are
also so in that they hold special meaning for
interest groups and subcultures. Private compa-
nies and destinations are increasingly seeking to
create or market events with appeal to interest
groups, and their symbolic value can be based on
being the largest or most unique, or some intan-
gible quality like reputation or association with a
sponsors brand.
The main roles events play in tourism, or their
functions from a policy and strategy perspective,
can be described as catalyst, image making,
attraction, and animator, and these are closely
connected to place marketing. All of these roles
are typically viewed primarily in terms of eco-
nomic benefits, and these extend beyond direct
tourist spending to include contributions to urban
development, renewal, and repositioning strate-
gies. Increasingly, events are also expected to
contribute socially, culturally, and environmen-
tally, and not solely through the link to tourism.
Furthermore, cities and destinations, having real-
ized the potential of events across all these roles,
have increasingly marketed, bid on, and created
events within a managed portfolio. As cases
increase in size and scope, the complexity of the
task for strategists and evaluators is being mag-
nified greatly. There is little evidence available
regarding long-term success and sustainability
within event portfolios and populations.
Festival and event, tourism
These roles of planned events can be seen as
ontological positions. Each role is backed by a
considerable body of research, starting with the
appeal of events to attract tourists in the off-peak
and to foster positive destination images through
co-branding (Ritchie and Beliveau 1974). Major
events are frequently employed as catalysts for
development, such as new infrastructure, and to
improve marketing, boost an areas capacity to
host future events, or enhance culture. Events are
also vital in animating otherwise static attrac-
tions, like zoos, and they are tools in the broader
process of place marketing. In general, event
tourism is increasingly becoming intertwined
with social, cultural, and urban policies, implying
more and more stakeholders and complex
interrelationships.
Major forces, trends, and challenges
A number of major forces have combined to
propel growth. As argued by Getz (2013), pro-
pelling forces have been in the ascendency for
some time, and growth is likely to continue. This
can be viewed as an aspect of globalization, not
only in terms of rising disposable incomes and the
freer movement of people, but also in terms of
global branding and media coverage. Movement
of peoples (diaspora) acts to propel growth in
event numbers and diversity. Instrumentalism is
on the rise, linking planned events to more and
more policy fields.
Planned events of all kinds are now viewed as
legitimate tools, and this legitimation process
will result in more events becoming permanent
institutions. As a consequence, there exist fierce
competition, gigantism (of costs, infrastructure,
media coverage, and the impacts of events), and
rising professionalism with new careers specific
to event tourism. New agencies and restructured
destination management organizations are evi-
dent, with the mandate to bid on, create, and
service events for tourism purposes. Conver-
gence of the forms and functions of events is
evident in community festivals, mega, and hall-
mark events; new combinations are emerging to
take advantage of the power of events that
3
combine economic and social exchange, possess
high symbolic value, and satisfy many personal
and social needs.
Most existing event-tourism development
agencies and destination marketing organizations
take a predominantly supply-side approach by
selling venue space and existing events, develop-
ing the size and variety of the event sector
through assistance programs, and bidding on
one-time events. The approach is often
top-down and secretive, considered to be a com-
petitive business, and seldom involves public
input or full accountability. Therefore, a major
challenge is to move event tourism toward a more
open, sustainable, and accountable system in
which bottom-up planning and development
occurs. This requires the participation of many
stakeholders and the active support of residents.
While the supply-side approach starts with
available venues that must be filled, events that
have to be marketed, and those that can be won
through bidding, the demand-side approach starts
with market intelligence and develops or markets
events to meet the specific needs of target seg-
ments. As the number, size, and importance of
events expand in cities and destinations, there
arises the necessity for taking a more integrated
approach, as opposed to the usual, fragmented
structure in which different agencies produce,
bid, and market events. As well, it is increasingly
necessary to justify investments as public goods
that benefit all in society, to be fully accountable,
to manage events as a portfolio of valuable assets,
and to stress long-term sustainability.
Several event-tourism portfolio models and
strategies have been examined by Getz (2013),
including the key roles played by permanent hall-
mark events in contrast to the high costs and risks
associated with bidding on one-time events.
Beyond the complexity of managing portfolios
is the emerging issue of dealing with overlapping
ones in which events constitute assets for eco-
nomic, social, cultural, and environmental poli-
cies and industry strategies. Furthermore, cities
and countries that possess large populations of
events must start to monitor population dynamics
and sustainability. This represents a frontier for
researchers and theory development.
4 Festival and event, tourism
As a field of study, event tourism requires
theory and concepts from a variety of foundation
disciplines. Interdisciplinary theory development
has been minimal, and only the event-tourist
career trajectory (Getz and Andersson 2010) can
be claimed as pertinent theory in development. It
postulates cumulative changes in motivation and
event-tourist behavior as one becomes increas-
ingly involved in a sport, hobby, artistic, or life-
style pursuit.
Theoretical development is required in the
areas of antecedents (preconditions to event tour-
ism, including motivation), the experience (how
the event-travel experience is unique), outcomes,
and planning, management, and marketing. Little
is known of the long-term success or sustainabil-
ity of various event-tourism organizations and
strategies. The basic ontological foundations are
well established, but the magnitude and complex-
ity of tourism and event have expanded to the
point where event, the latter, needs to be recog-
nized as a field of study with its own lines of
theory development.
See also Attraction, destination branding,
destination marketing organization, image,
olympic tourism.
References
Getz, D. 2012 Event Studies: Theory, Research and Policy
for Planned Events. Oxon: Routledge.
Getz, D. 2013 Event Tourism: Concepts, International
Case Studies, and Research. New York: Cognizant.
Getz, D., and T. Andersson 2010 The Event-tourist Career
Trajectory: A Study of High-involvement Amateur
Distance Runners. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality
and Tourism 19:468-491.
Hinch, T., and J. Higham 2011 Sport Tourism Develop-
ment. Clevedon: Channel View.
Picard, D., and M. Robinson (eds.) 2006 Festivals, Tour-
ism and Social Change: Remaking Worlds. Clevedon:
Channel View.
Richards, G., and R. Palmer 2012 Eventful Cities: Cultural
Management and Urban Revitalization. Oxford:
Butterworth-Heinemann.
Ritchie, J., and D. Beliveau 1974 Hallmark Events: An
Evaluation of a Strategic Response to Seasonality in
the Travel Market. Journal of Travel Research
13(2):14-20.
Vanhove, D., and S. Witt 1987 Report of the English-
speaking Group on the Conference Theme. Revue de
Tourisme 42(4):10-12.
Weber, K., and K. Chon (eds.) 2002 Convention Tourism:
International Research and Industry Perspectives. New
York: Haworth.
Weed, M. 2008 Olympic Tourism. Oxford: Elsevier.